Act 73: The defeat is now
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the front-line battle report that Roger was waiting for finally came back. With the cover of the night, he bullied the Japanese without radar equipment. Chen Xuchu successfully led the main force of his fleet to capture Keno Kurita, and then pressed the Japanese battleship formation and bombarded them indiscriminately.
As early as when the Qiong Army's remaining fleet was raided, Keno Kurita's battleship was generally marked, and his maneuverability was greatly affected, especially the old ship "Yancheng". Although his speed gradually recovered after emergency repairs and could barely drag the end to follow the fleet, it inevitably slowed down the speed of the entire fleet. Keno Kurita was shocked to find that Chen Xuchu's aircraft carrier formation did not rush back to the Okinawa landing point as he imagined to support the remaining fleet, but instead seized his way of retreat and wanted to capture all his chess pieces in one fell swoop, and was abandoned as soon as possible.
Faced with the powerful aerial strike capabilities of eight aircraft carriers, Keno Kurita can do the only thing he can do, and one can run away is one, because facts have proved that the air defense capabilities of these battleships at hand are far from enough to deal with the Qiong Army's air strikes.
But obviously, Chen Xuchu, who was ruthless, would not let Keno Kurita, who was owed blood debt, run away. Little fish will not care about it for the time being, but those four battleships must not be left behind, especially the two Yamato-class ships are the key targets to take care of. As for the other two "Fusang"-class ships, even if they are allowed to run at full speed, they can't run far, so they can be put on for a while.
Many people in later generations regarded this pure head-on battle between battleships and aircraft carriers as a battleship where the battleships completely gave up their throne. During this battle, Keno Kurita's four battleships, including two, were still the most powerful "Yamato"-class battleships in the world even when the battleship era ended. He could not touch half of the hair of Chen Xuchu's aircraft carrier formation. Just like the heavy cavalry in Poland met the light cavalry in Mongolia, he was depressed and powerless, and had only the ability to resist and had strong firepower but could not be used.
In the end, Keno Kurita's fleet successfully escaped, except for a few destroyers and light cruisers. All the main forces, including four battleships, sank! At this point, except for two heavy cruisers, which can be called large warships, the Japanese Navy has no battleships and aircraft carriers that can still be launched. There is no doubt that Japan has essentially lost the ability to compete for sea control. For an island country, losing sea control means that the prelude to its destruction has begun.
"Okay! OK! OK!" After receiving the news sent back from the front line, Roger yelled three times in a row, and then immediately sent someone to disclose the matter to the newspaper industry, fully explaining what had happened near Okinawa in the past two days, and refuting the rumors that the Japanese had sunk 11 aircraft carriers.
Soon, two completely different battle situation reports appeared on the market made everyone confused. Not only ordinary citizens, but even some intelligence officers from the great powers were the same. Although they did not believe how big the Japanese could sink the 11 Qiong Army aircraft carriers, they were also not clear about the battleship formations that the Qiong Army claimed to have wiped out Keno Kurita. At present, the Japanese Navy had no major battleship that could be launched into the water to fight. Whether the intelligence of the information was true.
But there is no doubt that these two pieces of information will completely change the course of the entire battle situation. If the Japanese are telling the truth, even if the discount means that they have gained a maritime advantage over the Qiong Army. If the Qiong Army tells the truth, then Japan's failure will be inevitable. It is just a matter of time and what degree of ceasefire conditions can both sides accept.
Fortunately, all forces have their own intelligence teams. Although there are generally insufficient intelligence personnel in Japan, Keno Kurita's fleet was almost wiped out. The Japanese couldn't hold on even if they wanted to. A few days later, the truth was revealed to the world - it was indeed the Japanese who were defeated.
As a result, after the reports of 11 aircraft carriers being sunk in China were released, the pessimistic remarks that were buzzing disappeared without a trace, and the Qiong Army also took this opportunity to expand the news censorship system across the country to prevent similar incidents.
On the Ryukyu side, with Chen Xuchu leading the return of the main fleet, everything seemed to be back on track, followed by reinforcements, injured ships returned to repair, etc.
As the number of Qiong Army landing troops increased and the effect of its own kamikaze attack became worse and worse, the pressure felt by the troops deployed by Niujima in the central area of Okinawa Island was increasing. The frequent visits to the Qiong Army air force and the frequent attacks and tests from time to time. It seemed that the Qiong Army landing troops, which could launch a general attack at any time, made Niujima realize how fragile his defense line in the middle of the island was.
Considering that the troops were placed in the central area to suppress the Qiong Army's troops at the beach just to cooperate with the Navy's J-1 operations, the navy had completely failed at this time. And in the future, no one could expect to get a little support from the already substantially destroyed navy, Niujima Man could only helplessly decide to change the defense plan back to the previous formal plan, that is, to give up the advantageous attacks and unfavorable defense areas in the central area, drill all the mountains and holes, and use favorable terrain to continue to fight the Qiong Army.
So, on the evening of May 4, while the Qiong Army had not completed its attack preparations, Niu Daoman led his defenders to retreat, and some entered the northern mountains. However, because the north was remote and the strategic value was not high, this group of soldiers had only 10,000 or 20,000 miscellaneous cards, and the rest of the troops were all retreating near Shuri, the capital of Ryukyu, preparing to use the solid fortification area to fight the Qiong Army to the death.
The next day, when the movement of Niujimama was discovered, the Qiong Army immediately launched an attack and began to march towards the depths of Okinawa. The Qiong Army quickly occupied the positions that Niujimama gave up and successfully obtained the two airports Kadena and Dugu. The Qiong Army originally thought that there would be a bloody battle to capture these two airports, but they did not expect to occupy them on the day of the attack, and the airport facilities were intact.
Although the Japanese army's defense was placed in the south and the airport was not ready to stick to it, the Niushima planned to destroy all the airport facilities before giving up, so that it would not be used, so as not to make the Qiong Army cheaper.
Naoshima Manta's idea is naturally good. However, it is not entrusted to people, because the Japanese army deployed in the airport area a special service brigade composed of Okinawa's tyrants. This army has been disparate in organization, poor equipment, and even worse morale. At present, it has only been more than fifty years since Japan forcibly annexed Ryukyu, and the degree of recognition of Japan within Ryukyu is not high. Moreover, the reason why Naoshima Manta allowed Okinawa's tyrants to carry out the plan to destroy the airport was to put it bluntly that the troops were dragged to the end. If they encountered the loss of the Qiong Army, they would not feel sorry for them. Anyway, they were not their own.
So, before the Qiong Army arrived, the Okinawa Island men who were left at two airports were already defeated. They fled all over. How could they remember to destroy the airport? They gave the Qiong Army a big advantage.
After obtaining two complete airports, the Qiongya Air Force immediately entered a large number of fighter jets. In a short while, the Qiongya Air Fighter's strength in Ryukyu almost doubled, and the Japanese army encountered huge resistance to the "Ju Shu" combat against the Qiongya Navy.
On May 4 and 11, in order to make up for the loss, the Japanese army also converted the water reconnaissance aircraft into suicide insulators. They deployed special attacks and dispatched a total of 597 aircraft, including 300 suicide insulators, and successively launched the "Ju Shui" No. 5 and "Ju Shui" No. 6 operations.
On May 20, 21st and May 25th and 26th, the Japanese army converted the trainer aircraft into a special attack aircraft. In order to increase the number of special attack aircraft, they successively launched the "Ju Shui" No. 7 and "Ju Shui" No. 8 operations, dispatching a total of 337 aircraft, including 208 suicide aircraft.
On June 3 and 5 and 9, the Japanese army tried their best to dispatch 402 aircraft, including 114 suicide planes, and launched the "Ju Shui" No. 9 and "Ju Shui" No. 10 operations.
Although these crazy "Ju Shui" battles are fierce, the power of the Qiong Army's air strength is gradually weakening. Especially in the later stage, they can almost only rely on the cover of night to get close to the Qiongya Navy's warships, and their attacks and efficiency are even less severe.
As the Japanese "Kujishui" combat became more and more frequent, the Qiong Army gradually found a way to deal with the Japanese suicide intentions. First, it was naturally to send radar warning ships and early warning aircraft to closely monitor the direction of the Japanese army's most likely attack, achieve early warning, and establish radar stations on Okinawa Island and nearby islands. Implement strict air alerts, so that the fleet can prepare for combat before the Japanese army arrives; secondly, use the principle of coordination. Scientifically organize the air defense maneuvers of ships, keeping large warships and Japanese aircraft attack directions perpendicular, and small warships are parallel to the attack direction of Japanese aircraft, and at the same time adopt sudden sharp turn and growth, making it difficult for Japanese aircraft to aim at the target; finally, strengthen the air patrol warning of fighter jets and intercept at any time according to the radar warning report.
The situation of the Japanese army was just the opposite. Because none of the pilots who carried out suicide attacks could come back to report their attack experience and experience, they could not make necessary improvements to the tactical changes of the Qiong Army. In addition, the first pilots of the Kamikaze Special Attack Team, who were proud of their dedication and fearlessness, had already lost all their losses. Most of the pilots later attacked under pressure. The war-weariness that believed that this sacrifice was meaningless gradually spread within the Japanese army, and some pilots even returned to the base under the pretext of not discovering the Qiong ship. In the end, the Japanese army's attack effect became smaller and smaller, and the aircraft and pilots were unable to be replenished due to the losses, and fewer and fewer aircraft could be deployed, and the "Jujiu" battle ended.
While the Japanese "Kyumizu" battle went bankrupt, the attacks of the Qiong Army in central and northern regions of Okinawa were carried out quite smoothly. After the landing forces of the Qiong Army had divided the Japanese army into two parts, north and south, and the attack troops in the north only encountered weak resistance before reaching the neck of Okinawa Island. It was not until May 8 that they began to encounter the Japanese stubborn resistance. By the 16th, the northern half of the Japanese army was basically eliminated. The first Marine Division arrived at Yuming Bay, while the third Marine Division reached the northernmost Hadessaki, and occupied the northern part of Okinawa Island on the 21st.
At the same time, in the southern part of Okinawa, the battle of the Qiong Army fell into a arduous stalemate. Because the main force of the Japanese army in Okinawa was deployed in the south, and made full use of steep terrain such as cliffs, deep trenches and high valleys to build solid and hidden fortifications, the Qiong Army made extremely slow progress.
Although the Qiong Army used its superior firepower to prepare for the Japanese positions in a crazy artillery fire before each attack, the Japanese army used complex tunnels to avoid the bombardment of the Qiong Army. When the Qiong Army's artillery fire began to extend the ground troops to launch attacks, they entered the position to fight. Therefore, the Qiong Army's offensive was disintegrated again and again.
In the defensive battle, the Japanese army of Niujima fully demonstrated its tenacious fighting will. Every hill, every bunker, every tunnel, and even every rock on the position, the Qiong Army had to go through many bloody battles to capture it, and it was often just captured and then recaptured by the Japanese counterattack. It required repeated struggles to finally get it. This fierce battle lasted for five days, and the Qiong Army's progress was only a few meters in total!
Subsequently, because the Qiong Army invested a large number of fire-breathing tanks to deal with the Japanese tunnels, the army's progress greatly accelerated. By May 27, all the outer positions of Niujima Man had been lost, and he had to shrink his defense to the vicinity of Shuri. This area was also the core area of the Japanese defense. In addition, Niujima Man had at least 120,000 troops on hand at this time. If he wanted to continue to attack hard, the Qiong Army would be inseparable from casualties.
Just when Niu Daoman was confident that he wanted to give the Qiong Army's troops a major casualties that were "unacceptable", the Qiong Army suddenly stopped attacking. Because the Qiong Army had now captured all the ports in Niu Daoman's hands, the only coastline left by the Japanese army was confirmed to have no ships existed after many reconnaissances. Therefore, the Qiong Army began to implement Plan B that had been planned long ago.
Soon Niu Daoman discovered something strange - Qiong Junjun Ran, who had obviously fought for every meter of land with them before, suddenly stopped attacking and stopped attacking! Instead, he began to dig pits and build fortifications leisurely! A large part of them were transformed on the basis of their original defense line!
Judging from the Qiong Army's posture, it seemed that it was completely prepared to turn this offensive battle into a defensive battle. Not only did it deepen and strengthen the Japanese army's inherent positions, but it also placed a large number of barbed wire mesh in front of the position. The layers of barbed wire mesh were almost overnight, encircling the remaining troops full of Niudao. Although such a large-scale barbed wire mesh consumed a lot, it was not worth mentioning for the current annual steel output of Qiongya, the second largest in the world.
After completing the first barbed wire defense line, the commanders on the front line of the Qiong Army were still not satisfied. Then, on the basis of continuing to strengthen the first line of defense, digging trenches and pushing towards money to start building the second barbed wire mesh and starting to lay mines. This time, since the second barbed wire mesh was only two or three thousand meters away from the Japanese position, the establishment of barbed wire mesh was often disturbed by the Japanese army. In the end, the Qiong Army could only dispatch tanks to protect the fortifications, which ensured the smooth progress of the construction of the fortifications.
"It seems... the front line is going well... It's time to start building the forward base."
After receiving the information sent from Okinawa Island, Roger couldn't help but laugh happily. At present, they had established two lines of defense against more than 100,000 Japanese troops in Ushima. In other words, Zhu Qingyue's previous combat concept has been completed. It can be said that the Battle of Okinawa has ended.
Why did the Japanese army's main force on Okinawa say that the battle was over even though it was still alive? Because Roger and his friends no longer planned to attack Ushimama and the others before Japan completely surrendered. More than 100,000 Japanese troops huddled in mountain valleys and stone structures tombs made people feel numb to think about it. Roger was unwilling to waste his young lives in places where birds could not shit!
The reason why their Qiong Army attacked Okinawa was to occupy Okinawa as a forward base for attacking Japan, rather than destroying the Japanese's livelihood. Now the troops of Niujima Man have been trapped in a "concentration camp" made of barbed wire, and it is impossible to pose any threat to the Qiong Army facilities on Okinawa Island, so it will naturally lose the meaning of annihilation.
If they were willing to live in the barbed wire "concentration camp" until Japan surrendered and then put down their weapons and walked out, Roger would have no objection, which would save him a lot of trouble. If Niujimama was unwilling to live in his command post and eat, drink, defecate, and sleep all day, and insisted on attacking, Roger would be even more welcome. Without naval support, the aviation force had only symbolic takeoff and patrol every day because of the previous "Kujimamamama's wreckage", and he would throw away a few wreckages and return to the airline. It would be impossible to provide any support. In addition, in the previous battle, Niujima's heavy artillery had been blown up by the Qiongya Air Force, and there were no tanks.
If Niujimama is willing to use his pure infantry to fight against the defensive positions of Qiong Army barbed wire and mines, then the commanders on the front line will probably like to practice fighting rabbits with the superior firepower of their assault rifles and semi-automatic rifles. Just like in the history of Roger's time and space, when Niujimamama obeyed the advice of his assistant Changyong to launch an attack on the US military in order to strive for a better defensive situation, Japan, which lost its strong cover, was vulnerable to the US military with superior firepower.
Chapter completed!